I'm here if you need anything, don't you?' I said, struggling to find something constructive to say without overemphasising my concern or embarrassing my friend. 'I'll be around if you want me.'
She smiled.
'I know,' she sighed. 'I'm sorry, I didn't mean to offload at you. I know you're here for both of us but...'
A moment's silence.
'But what?' I asked cautiously.
'But it's not the same, is it?'
'How do you mean?'
'I don't want to offend you, Tom, but...' It was obvious that she was struggling to express her feelings.
'Doesn't matter,' I said, trying to save her the effort (and myself the hurt).
'Please don't take this the wrong way,' she continued, 'but you can't take the place of the man I married. No matter what he's done he's still Penny's dad and there's still a place for him here...'
'I'm not trying to take anyone's place,' I began pointlessly. 'I just want you to know that...'
I let my words trail away into an awkward silence. To my relief a change in the picture on the television screen brought a welcome distraction. It was another United Nations press conference. I picked up the remote control and turned up the volume so that I could hear the news.
An extremely ordinary looking official stepped up to a plinth to deliver more extraordinary news. He cleared his throat and shuffled his papers.
'Further to the facts that were released earlier this morning,' he began, 'we're now able to bring you an update on the present situation. A thorough inspection and examination of the alien ship has been undertaken during the last few hours. The visitors have now concluded that the damage to the ship is beyond repair. To this end contact has been made with the alien home world today and a rescue mission has been dispatched. It is estimated that this will arrive within the next ten months.'
The official paused for a second and the gap in his delivery was seized upon by the hordes of media representatives gathered around. He held up his hands to try and calm the crowd.
'Bloody typical,' Clare hissed under her breath. 'I suppose that's it now, they've got their feet well and truly under the table.'
'What?' I grunted, half-listening.
'We're never going to get rid of them now.'
'Why do we want to get rid of them?'
'I want to get rid of them,' she replied. 'I don't like them.'
'You don't know anything about them.'
'No-one knows anything about them...'
Simple and direct as it was, I couldn't argue with her logic. The United Nations spokesman continued;
'We have extended our earlier agreement and will allow the travellers asylum until their colleagues arrive. It's hoped that both the visitors and ourselves will be able to take advantage of this time together in order to learn about each other's planets, technologies and societies. This is an extremely important stage in both the history and future development of both races...'
'Bullshit,' Clare interrupted again. 'Who the hell are they trying to fool? What are they going to learn from us? There's not going to be a fat lot we can tell them that they don't already know. Bloody hell, look at the state of their ship. We're still crashing planes...'
Again she was right. I wondered whether Clare really was as anti-alien as she sounded, or perhaps her venom was so obvious because she was just anti-everything at the present time? To her the sudden arrival of the aliens was nothing more than a temporary (and not very interesting) distraction. An unnecessary complication of her already unnecessarily complicated life.
The man on the screen had still more to say.
'Finally, after several hours of discussions with the commander of the alien ship, it has been decided that the vessel will be destroyed. There is a very slight danger of a leak from the ship's engines and so it has been decided that it is in the best interests of all concerned if the ship is destroyed. Arrangements have been made to launch the vessel away from the planet and into the sun. We are certain that this will have no detrimental effect on the sun and it would seem to be the safest and most convenient way of avoiding and potential danger. Furthermore...' I didn't get to hear the official's last sentence. Clare switched the television off.
'Sorry,' she sighed, sounding tired and harassed, 'I've heard enough for one day.'
I forced a smile and then looked deep into my friend's face.
'Look, I'm only going to ask you this one more time, are you sure you're